If You Seek Your Own Death, Nobody Can Stop You
Xu shi had said this sort of thing in front of practically everyone female in the capital, and it had been said in a place like Jing Ci Palace. This was the equivalent of having expressed the Yao family’s attitude. Moreover, the other two madams from the Yao family that were standing at her side also nodded along in agreement. This sudden reversal caused everyone to feel shocked.
Cutting ties and reconciling with just a few words, the Yao family’s adaptability was really quite good! The people sighed. Because Imperial Daughter Ji An had a falling out with her mother, the Yao family was the first to stand up and support Yao shi, and they had always criticized Feng Yu Heng externally. Why was it that in just a few months time, the situation had changed? Did the feelings of resentment between the two sides no longer exist?
In their confusion, someone recalled how Yao shi had left the capital, thus they very reasonably began to say: “It must be said that the Yao family was definitely pushing away Imperial Daughter Ji An at the very beginning. After all, Yao shi is divine doctor Yao Xian’s daughter. The daughter would be closer than the granddaughter, right?! The Yao and Feng families are sworn enemies. Half of Imperial Daughter Ji An’s blood is from the Feng family, and for this reason, the Yao family at the time severing ties with her was not fake.”
The people were relatively accepting of this, but it was because of this acceptance that they began to feel puzzled over Yao shi’s actions.
That person then said: “But the daughter is still the daughter. Yao shi running off is something that you have all heard, right? She also did not run off on her own. She also brought along the adopted girl that looks like Imperial Daughter Ji An. That was not all, as most importantly, Feng Jin Yuan also left at the same time that she did. It’s likely that the two have run off together. This was not something that the Yao family could tolerate!”
With her saying this, someone immediately picked up on the train of thought and said: “That’s right, that’s right, those two ran off together. This is something that everyone knows by now! Feng Jin Yuan disappeared, and the Feng family’s fourth young miss made a fuss all over the capital, nearly flipping the heavens. I personally saw her cursing in the street over this matter. Also, all of our fathers are government officials, and we could hear a bit about this sort of thing. Yao shi and Feng Jin Yuan ran off with that adopted girl. I heard that they went to the South.”
“That’s it!” The person from earlier continued: “The Yao and Feng families were originally like water and oil, never getting along. Now, Yao shi has made this sort of choice. That just means that she no longer cares about the face of her family, so why would the Yao family continue to go against Imperial Daughter Ji An over her? It must be known that having an imperial daughter as a granddaughter is quite a benefit that was just lying there.”
The volume of the discussion was not loud; however, it was not a quiet thought. Feng Yu Heng was able to hear the rough details of it, and Xu shi could be seen faintly nodding, quietly saying: “The number of reasons found was quite plentiful.” She then smiled and raised her voice to say: “With the arrival of the new year, there won’t be many months until our A-Heng will turn 15 years of age. A coming of age ceremony will need to be prepared. We have already discussed it with the Yu Palace. The coming of age ceremony will be conducted at the same time as the wedding, which is to say that our A-Heng is about to get married into the Yu Palace as His Highness the ninth prince’s official princess.” While she spoke, she patted Feng Yu Heng’s hand and said: “A-Heng, don’t worry. Your grandfather and uncles have already spoken. They will definitely put on a very glorious wedding. It definitely will not be lacking for your status as imperial daughter.”
Feng Yu Heng knew at heart that this was definitely something that her grandfather had mentioned to the aunts and uncles before entering the palace. The Yao family no longer wanted to keep these ties with her severed. Rather than have relatives become strangers, they would rather get involved in the chaos and stand at her side.
When she realized this, her heart filled with emotions. In the past, she only thought about the possibility that she might implicate others through all of the calamities that she caused, especially those kind people that she thought fondly of. At the same time, she was afraid that those with an axe to grind would use these loved ones to threaten her; however, she only thought of protecting them and ended up neglecting their desire to stand at her side through thick and thin. Now that the Yao family had expressed their attitude without discussing it with her and suddenly making this sort of decision, the Yao family’s resolution could be seen. The respect that they had for this granddaughter and niece was something that made her quite emotional.
“Alright.” Feng Yu Heng finally spoke up, replying to Xu shi: “Then I will trouble the three aunties with handling it. No matter the time, A-Heng will always be the Yao family’s daughter. This is something that will never change.”
This side enjoyed a flowery scene of human warmth. Everyone that saw and heard this knew that the Yao family and Imperial Daughter Ji An had reconciled, but at the same time, they realized that Feng Yu Heng was about to turn 15 years of age and was about to become of marriageable age. And with coming of age, she would be getting married to His Highness the ninth prince. To the capital, this was a large matter. In an instant, discussions sprung up once again, and there were still some girls that were unwilling to let go of their love for Xuan Tian Ming, as they turned their jealous gazes on Feng Yu Heng.
But this just echoed those words: I just enjoy watching you look at me with discontent while also being unable to get rid of me!
She, Feng Yu Heng, was the one destined to become Xuan Tian Ming’s wife, and this was something that nobody could change.
Seeing that the people began to chat in their small groups once more, Feng Yu Heng stopped putting on a play. Instead, she was surrounded by Xu shi’s group, as they grabbed her hands and arms, getting very intimate. There was nothing that Feng Yu Heng could do. She knew that these aunts all lacked a daughter, thus it was no different from if they had found a national treasure. They needed to properly enjoy being intimate with her. Fortunately, this sort of intimacy was not something that she rejected, as the group chatted and laughed quite happily.
In the midst of this joyous atmosphere, Xu shi grabbed Feng Yu Heng and quietly asked: “Did you send someone to Feng Jin Yuan’s side to chase him back?”
Feng Yu Heng shook her head, “I have not.”
The three aunts were puzzled, “Why not go and chase him down? Could it be that you want to watch them go to the South to enjoy their life? You need to know that the eighth prince was able to establish a small court, which is enough to show that that place is a place the Emperor does not have control over. If the three succeed in creating the right atmosphere, the people in the South will only recognize that person as imperial daughter, stealing away your contributions and giving them to the eighth prince. How could that be good?”
Xu shi’s worries were also shared by many people. Even Ren Xi Feng, who had stayed near Feng Yu Heng’s side, also said: “That’s right, A-Heng, you need to think it through carefully. Right before coming, my father had me ask you. If you need help, he can secretly send a letter to have the people in the South take them away. That way crisis can be averted.”
Feng Yu Heng knew that they were doing this out of goodwill; however, she still shook her head and said: “If this matter is handled in this way, we would be following behind them. Sooner or later, we will be left in a daze. This time, if we take them away, next time, the enemy will come up with some other ideas. Although tearing down their tricks as they come will not allow the enemy to make any gains, it’s too passive for us. I, Feng Yu Heng, have never been a passive person, and I have never wanted to be led around by my nose. That’s why those three can go to the South if they want. If they want to live as a family of three, just let them. I will not tear down this act; however, I will add some fire to the scenario. They want to live happily using a false identity? I will have them live a very splendid life. If they want to kill themselves, nobody can stop them.”
Hearing Feng Yu Heng say this, the people at her side let out sighs of relief, with Xu shi saying: “If you have a grasp on the situation, we can be at ease. Your grandfather has been getting quite angry over this for you over the past few days. A-Heng, in the future, come and see us more often. Spend some more time with your grandfather. He is getting older and older. Each day spent with him counts.”
Xu shi’s words immediately dragged Feng Yu heng back to the present. She suddenly realized a mistake that she had been making for a long time. She had just thought that her grandfather had returned to her side after being transmigrated. This caused her to feel that she would have a chance to enjoy the intimacy from her previous life once more; however, she had forgotten that the Yao Xian of this world was already in his later years. It was as Xu shi had said. Each day spent with him counted; however, she had been wasting this reunion between grandparent and grandchild. This really was…
“Silly child.” Xu shi could see the unhappiness that was written all over Feng Yu Heng’s face and could not help but feel a bit distressed, “Your grandfather does not blame you. It’s the ways of the world that are no good. It’s also our fault for being born into this sort of family. Hah, if we were normal citizens, I feel that the days would have been much happier.”
Everyone understood this reasoning. For a while, nobody spoke. Fortunately, Fang Yi also came out from the inside at this time and called for everyone to enter the main hall to greet the Empress for the new year. Thus everyone stopped chatting and noisily headed inside the hall.
On the first day of the new year, the officials went to pay respects to the Emperor, while the females would go and pay respects to the Empress. These were the rules, and it was the same each year. Of course, at the same time that they paid their respects, they had to present some gifts. The gifts that were prepared for the Empress were a bit easier to choose. They would mostly just be some precious gems or accessories. Even Feng Yu Heng was not too original, as a ruyi was made out of some jade that came from her jade mine. As for that jade mine, her profit through this year was something that everyone knew about. Everyone knew that good materials would come out of it, as they all tried to pick and choose early on. This allowed her to make a decent profit.
After paying respects to the Empress for the new year, some of the people stayed to speak with the Empress, while the majority returned outside to admire the lanterns and sights while waiting for Fei Cui Hall to tell them to head over. Xuan Tian Ge exited the hall and dragged Feng Yu Heng over to some lanterns and happily admired them.
Where there were women, there would be quarrels. The thing that women loved to do the most was gossip. Even in a yard with beautiful scenery and pretty lanterns, it could not compete with their desire to gossip. Very quickly, Feng Yu Heng heard someone say: “Did you hear? His Highness the eighth prince returned to the capital.”
Someone immediately chimed in, saying: “Of course, he came back on the night of the 29th day in the 12th month. He entered through the city’s southern gate with a very long procession of carriages. It was very imposing.”
The one that spoke was a young girl that looked to be around 13 or 14 years old. Feng Yu Heng followed the sound and looked over. There, she saw the young girl’s face turn red when the eighth prince was mentioned. At her side, someone immediately laughed at her: “Speak honestly, did you go to the city gate and wait?”
Sure enough, when this was mentioned, the young girl became bashful but immediately said: “It was not just me alone. There were many people that went! At that time, His Highness the eighth prince was not seated in a carriage. He was riding a horse. That elegance, you guys didn’t watch and will regret it for your entire lives.”
The girls laughed for quite a while, as the others also began to praise the eighth prince. There were also some that said that no matter how elegant, it was unrelated to them. They could not hope for such a thing. There were even more that wholeheartedly yearned for the ninth prince and seventh prince, not sparing a single glance for the eighth prince. At this time, that smitten young girl said something that caused some confusion to arise in Feng Yu Heng’s mind, “The eighth prince really is very imposing. Just the line of carriages that he brought into the capital was like a dragon’s tail. We’ve already talked about it, but there were a full 20 carriages!”